Trucks carry a bulk of the goods within the United States. Driver's have a difficult lifestyle in which they spend much of their time within the cab and sleeper of their over the road tractor trailers. They must comply with federal regulations in the United States that limit the amount of time behind the wheel as well as boredom and discomfort living life within the walls of what has been likened to a small mobile studio apartment. For employers that employ over the road drivers, retention has become a challenge. The general method of moving goods with trucks is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. The results of a survey performed by the inventors of this patent show that during their off-hours, truckers spend an average of 3.6 hours in truck awake. Of these hours, they spend about one hour preparing food, nearly an hour socializing with friends inside their trucks, and about 2.5 hours entertaining themselves with television or books. This invention and the project that it sprang from is intended to:                Create a space that drivers will be proud to show to other drivers,        Allow for 3–5 truckers to socialize together in the truck comfortably,        Create a space for food preparation and storage specific to the eating habits of truckers,        Create a bright and entertaining environment,        Give drivers a sense of separation between work and leisure,        Give drivers a way to isolate their sleeping space from their living space, and        Optimize the limited amount of space in a sleeper for storage.        
Drivers need to have horizontal space to both prepare food and desk space to prepare paperwork required for their jobs. The problem of course is that space is limited. The solution of this invention involves dual space in creating an area that can serve as both kitchen preparation and eating space as well as a desk. The challenge is facilitating the transition of the space between the two very different uses.
The invention focuses on providing a pull-out desk unit for a mobile vehicle. The pull-out desk unit provides horizontal food preparation and eating area when the desk stowed. The unit allows the driver to “freeze” the office related items on the desk while the pull-out desk is in a stowed condition. When the driver returns and pulls out the pull-out desk for paperwork and other office activities, he is able to find the office related items exactly as he left them upon stowage.